On Community

On Community

DeseretNews -Sunday, September 16, 2001Jews beefing up holiday security ...Rabbi Benny Zippel of Chabad Lubavitch said his congregation will have "regular security but we don't want to turn synagogue into a military barrack. We normally have some type of security."
Though his congregation held a memorial service earlier in the week, "we're definitely going to be talking about what happened. The fact that we experienced what we did this past Tuesday, we need to work to sensitize ourselves to what the people in theMiddle Eastgo through almost on a daily basis.
"It helps us all realize how vulnerable we are and the vulnerability of life. Literally from one day to the next, we might not be here tomorrow, so I think we vow to make the best of life while we're around."

SaltLakeTribune - 12/17/1999
Promise of Freedom Moves 850 to Become U.S. Citizens ...That was part of the reason Benny Zippel, a native ofItalyand a rabbi atSalt Lake City's Bais Menachem Synagogue, decided to become a citizen.
"I'm planning to stay in theUnited States, and if I'm going to be here I want to be able to vote," said Zippel, a spiritual leader from the Jewish Orthodox Chabad Lubavich tradition. "I want to make sure there is tolerance, that there is mutual respect, even though people speak differently, look different and believe in different things."

DeseretNews - Saturday, September 11, 1999
Faith, fear for Jewish holidays ...Rabbi Benny Zippel of Chabad Lubavitch ofUtahsaid he's not taking any unusual measures. "I'm planning to just keep an eye on who is coming and be more careful than usual, but no armed guards or anything like that."

SaltLakeTribune - 12/31/1994
Change of Leaders Marked Utah Religious Year ...Diversity withinSaltLake's Jewish community noticeably expanded with Chabad Lubavitch ofUtah's acquisition of a leased building on 1100 East north ofSalt Lake City's Sugar House area.
The new quarters — Lubavitcher Rabbi Benny Zippel before operated out of his home — mean the organization is in the city to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
Chabad Lubavitch is part of the New York City-based Lubavitcher Movement, a worldwide Hasidic Jewish organization.

SaltLakeTribune -03/15/1997Devout Seek Mates With Churches' Help ...For the Orthodox Jews of Utah, Rabbi Benny Zippel acts as a sort of volunteer matchmaker.
``I know some singles. I try to match them up when I can,'' says Zippel, who met his wife, Sharonne, through a matchmaker.
The large Jewish communities ofNew York City,IsraelandCaliforniasupport professional matchmakers. But matchmaker do not work the way the popular musical ``Fiddler on the Roof'' depicts them.
``People think that in the times when matchmakers were making matches, the man and woman would become engaged and meet for the first time under the canopy,'' Zippel says. ``It never happened that way.''
According to Jewish law, a wedding cannot take place without the full knowledge and consent of both parties, he says. A matchmaker is primarily involved in a sort of ``background check.''
``When you have a boy and girl who meet on campus, they both don't know anything about each other's background, the family customs, if there are sicknesses in the family,'' Zippel says. ``What the matchmaker essentially does is looks up and gets to know the person and what kind of family the person is from.''
After the research has been done, the couple must decide if there is enough chemistry between them to sustain a marriage.